Most folks in Christendom are aware that Jesus Christ was descended from King David of Israel and that Messiah's throne and eternal kingdom are designated as those "of His father David" (Lk. 1:32). The reason David was honored by God to father the permanent royal house of the nation of Israel, including the humanity of the eternal Messiah, was his loyal devotion to God. God testified that He had found the son of Jesse "to be a man after My own heart, who will do all My will" (in contrast to his predecessor Saul, who only partially obeyed, when convenient).

While David's overall, general excellence and character led to his being so honored, the specific occasion when God announced that He would bless the king with a permanent, royal legacy is an occasion very instructive to us as we begin this project of building a church facility. In II Sam. 7:1-2, David is depicted as saying to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains." David saw a disconnect between his own luxurious abode and that of the chief symbol of God's presence in Israel, the ark of the covenant. The ark, and the central ministry of the priests before God on behalf of Israel, were housed in a tent. David clearly felt he should not live in more privileged circumstances than God's own symbolic presence and earthly ministry in Israel. That made sense to Nathan and he told David to do whatever he though was right in this regard.

That night, however, Nathan was updated on God's will for David and his plan to build a house for God. God was impressed with David's thoughtfulness, especially since He, God, had not complained at all about His transient, tent-dwelling (7:7) (By the way, let us be imitators of God in this matter!) So God announced that though David would not himself be allowed to build a place for God's ark and ministry, God would make his house the permanent royal house in Israel, and that a son who would come from him would build the temple (i.e., Solomon). David had shed too much blood (cf. I Kgs. 5:3) in subduing Israel's foes with God's help, and God did not want him to be the one who built the temple. So, God made David a permanent, royal house all because he was burdened to make God a house first, was discontent with his own luxurious, royal digs when God's ark and service were housed in a tent.

I don't cite this to urge us to build a gaudy cathedral, which can be counterproductive to our spiritual mission. Rather, to merely point out that most of us have our own permanent places (as permanent as life in DC ever gets!), while the work of the kingdom is housed in a rented facility. I suspect most of us have the kind of burden David had, to ensure that the work we prize will have its own facility and permanent place like we do personally. David was also a military man and put garrisons--outposts--in various places in Israel to protect and promote the nation's interest. I see local churches as "garrisons," entrenched, kingdom outposts where the work of God's kingdom can be furthered. Sherry and I did this kind of work in Georgia for 16 years and look back now with pleasure that our labors to put up churches resulted in three wherein the Scriptures have been faithfully taught for 30, 25, and 20 years respectively.

When we are done, I wouldn't at all be surprised that those who have been zealous for His work will in some way be recipients of His zeal for theirs. After all, David's zeal for God's well-being had the unexpected benefit of evoking God's extraordinary zeal for David's well-being. Let's pray this facility into being so that in years to come, whether we're still here or not, we can rejoice that we labored to put up a permanent kingdom outpost here in Woodbridge. ---Tim